Guest

Firstly its way huge. Much bigger than i thought and certainly much much fatter than Yamaha RX-V630. So better be fuller on the features too!

Spent ages trying to set it up and configure it. The manual need a professor to follow it.

My setup currently has no DVD player so i tried plugging the twin phono connection from my Nicam stereo TV, and then use the ProLogic 2 Cinema mode.

I managed to get something going but,

1) Absolutely no sounds from Paradigm PDR10 subwoofer even though it had a little orange light on. What can i do to test the subwoofer ?

2) Its hard work to get the right surround mode working. needs about 3-4 buttons pressed.

3) I am UNABLE to connect the FM radio antenna. Has anybody managed to do it properly? Sorry, my two university degrees arent enough to work out how the f. it can be done. If anybody has done it, please let me know urgently. HOW CAN IT BE DONE???

4) Does 1803 have even some basic program modes for cinema? I cannot find anything mentioned anywhere. While Yamaha always have things like "sci-fi, action, adventure" etc. modes.

I am seriously thinking of returning it unless i can make the sub and radio work.

Active Member

1) For Bass goto into the receiver setup and I would select all speakers as small, subwoofer = yes and subwoofer = norm this will send all 80hz and below sound to the subwooofer and relieve all the rest of the speaker from bass duties.

3) FM radio antenna is a trickey problem with a simple answer, take the short wire with the small connector and put it directly into the middle pin on the antenna connector on the amp.

4) The denon does not have many DSP modes, they are generaly crap and add distortion to the signal.

IF you need extra help don't hesitate to ask I will monitor this thread.

Well-known Member

First off, No Amp yet, unbeatable are really f**king me about, it was being held waiting for other items to come in to stock, so I change the other order to an item that was, i then received an email to state the amp was out of stock due to Denon not sending them the correct quoter they ordered

Now to your problems.

1) You need to probably go into the setup menu of the amp and tell it you have a sub connected, my sony amp states yes or no at this setup stage.

2) My Sony Amp took me some time to master, but with the Denon it should be automatic, each input can be set to remember what sound format was used last time (memory plus), if you watched tv with pro-logic2 it should remember it next time you use it, the same goes for dvd, which on later dvd's should auto detect DD EX and DTS ES sound tracks.

3) Are you talking about the coax lead with the amp or the one connected to a roof antenna. if its a roof antenna you may need a male/female convertor to make it fit, this should have come with the amp.

4) Personnaly I woudn't bother with any dsp features, they are usually pants.

The only other suggestion is to wait for me to receive mine, which is sometime in October

Guest

Radio is now working even though the reception isnt best. At least i could test it. Now i must say, to me so far the music performance when having the radio on, is a bit DULL. Maybe its just me.

Subwoofer is now working also. Wow... I cannot believe how SEAMLESSLY the sub is intergrated with the system. Previously i had a cheap system with a Yamaha 30w sub and that was much more boomy.. PDR10 on a 1803 is very seamless.
I even increased its channel volume to +7db just to test it. Otherwise its been very quiet.

Shame about not having any cinema DSP modes.

My last remaining problem: no sounds from the rear surround (centre rear) speaker. Its always silent even though in test mode the test "noise" works and its enabled.

What else does one need to do to have sounds from the centre rear channel under Prologic 2 or something?

Member

My last remaining problem: no sounds from the rear surround (centre rear) speaker. Its always silent even though in test mode the test "noise" works and its enabled.

Click to expand...

This would indicate that the amp is capable of sending a signal to the speaker but probably isn't due to the general lack of 6.1 material available. Most DVD's will simply play in 5.1 and the SB speaker will stay silent as you describe...

On my Sony amp, unless the DVD being watched is "flagged" as a 6.1 disc, you have to manually select 6.1 decoding. In my case I have a "6ch Decoding" button on my remote/front panel of the amp - presumably Denon would do something similar??

There is generally an "auto" mode which detects the flag and activates the SB channel automatically but as a large number of EX/ES discs aren't flagged you're probably better off manually activating it when you know the relevant soundtrack is present.

Member

What else does one need to do to have sounds from the centre rear channel under Prologic 2 or something?

Click to expand...

Apologies if I got the wrong end of the stick with my last reply. I automatically assumed you were trying to get sound from the SB channel via DVD playback.

I'm not sure if it is possible to get PLII to playback in "6.1" - I seem to remember reading somewhere that DTS Neo 6 can though - maybe you can give that option a try for TV/VCR watching - or maybe somebody else could comment??

Guest

The opening sequence of Se7en,
The entire duration of The Bone Collector
The Haunting R1 DTS ES 6.1 Discrete is amazing, though the film is utter cack,
Fight Club, the plane collision sequence
Lord Of The Rings Cave Troll sequence
Monsters Inc, the chase through the door factory
Toy Story 2, crossing the road sequence
Terminator 2 opening sequence
The opening boat chase from 007 The World is not Enough.

There are absolutely tons more good ones, but in my tired state those are the ones that spring to mind first!

Guest

Sorry Tim, i recently have sold my old DVD player. So i cannot test this system properly.

what i can tell you is that i found no way to manually make the rear centre channel work under DPL 2. It does however, work under Dolby NEO 6.0.

Dont know why people were so excited about DPL2, i am very very unimpressed by it. Like i said, the old Yamaha RX-V520 did a better job simulating a 5.1 surround for normal TV watching, and it didnt require a DPL2.

Active Member

I ordered some items from Unbeatable.co.uk including the denon 1803. One thing you should note is that you paid (or at least I did) delivery for esch item on my order. i ordered over the phone and that lady (who's the same lady each time!!!) told me that as each item comes into stock it wouldl be shipped straight out to me.

So look at it this way, if you've paid for delivery for each item, you should be intiteled to recieve that item without waiting for the rest. When they send you that email (held while other items come in2 stock). Just reply and point the fact out that you've paid deliver on each item, hence they should send it straight out to u, independent of whether the rest r in stock, or they should give u cheaper delivery!!!!

I did this and I got a call 2day (from that lady, Marie i think is her name!) saying that all my denon equipment is on thier currier 2day and should be with me on monday (2day-friday). Now knowing my luck it wont be all the denon stuff i ordered (maybe i'll have my 1803 next week, and then i'll tell all u out there how to use it, as i'm the maths graduate hear, we have brains!) . At least i should have the one item that is in stock be that my denon cd player, which is apparently (from the email) being held awaiting stock..

Don't let these companies screw u over, point out the law (and even their own regulations). If u made 3 seperate orders (still apparently the same cost in delivery) there wouldn't of been any waiting for other items, so if u pay the same delivery for 3 items on one order , there aslo shouldn't be any waiting!!

Sorry about my rabelling, but then again u ain't gonna find a brand new spanky shiny denon 1803 with that new smell (!!) for any less anywhere on the web , not even from germany!! for once we r getting something cheaper than on the continent, wait till they find out!! ( u may get it cheaper from europe at certain foreign exchange rates/fluctuations, but then u may be slapped with some import TAX, oh and theres the voltage and the plug)

If u go to the USA denon page and downlaod the denon 1803 user manual might help u use it (not sure if this is the one u get with the 1803, i'll find out maybe next week!!)

Well-known Member

Good point and well made Thankfully this is now irrelevant for me as I received my Phone call from Maria today, But I will have to wait until Tuesday for my nice new shiny 1803 I can smile again now.
Strange as I received an email from denon yesterday stating their next delivery would be some time in October, but could not give me a date.